DIEGO SANCHEZ

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UFC welterweight Diego Sanchez was a wrestler in New Mexico before starting training in MMA while working for UPS. Sanchez eventually joined Jackson's Submission Fighting, managing the time between work and training. In 2002, he made his MMA debut for King of the Cage where he also later became a champion.

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His life with the UFC began when he was chosen as a participant on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter on Spike TV. He defeated Kenny Florian to become the middleweight winner that season and subsequently won a contract with the UFC. Shortly after, Sanchez dropped to welterweight class.

He holds notable victories over Kenny Florian, Jorge Santiago, Nick Diaz, Karo Parisyan, Clay Guida, Paulo Thiago, and Martin Kampmann. Sanchez is currently ranked as the Number 9 welterweight fighter in the world by MMAWeekly.

In addition to earning many wrestling and submission grappling awards, his accolades also include The Ultimate Fighter 1 Middleweight Tournament Winner, Fight of the Night (Four times), King of the Cage Welterweight Champion, and his June 20, 2009, fight against Clay Guida was named Fight of the Year by Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Inside MMA and at the World MMA Awards.